For sure, a director of a major museum must travel extensively for his job. Sometimes, the timing isnít perfect. But at the very least, his publicized absence from the scene is tacky. A tweet or two acknowledging the sadness left behind, or at least tweeting to his critics ďIím not comfortable discussing this online,Ē would seem to be in order. Employees and the audience have feelings to be managed, just as artists do.

My colleague Neal Taflinger put together this timeline of tweets from Venableís social media accounts, and those of news media and critic Tyler Green and others, too. See for yourself. Am I judging him fairly?